Gadgets

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Welcome to your weekend! We'll recap some highlights from the last week, plus new stories from Friday including a new release date for Sonic the Hedgehog and reader's impressions of the most recent MacBook Air.

Tesla has started putting a limit on some Supercharger stations in an effort to reduce wait times. In an employee memo seen by Electrek, the automaker said it has released a feature that will limit customers' State of Charge to 80 percent, giving mor...

At NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, Boeing recently completed live-fire tests of the complex array of thrusters that will be used to guide the seven-passenger spacecraft in orbit and provide propulsion for the emergency abort system. The successful trials now open the way to full abort testing and the first unmanned orbital flight...
Continue Reading Boeing CST-100 Starliner completes hot-fire thruster tests
Category: Space
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Boeing
CST-100
NASA

The technology that will guide NASA's Mars 2020 mission to a landing on the surface of Mars began testing recently in the skies over Death Valley in California. Installed in an Airbus helicopter, an engineering prototype of the Lander Vision System (LVS) was put through a series of pre-planned maneuvers designed to test the device's ability to collect and analyze images of the mountainous desert landscape for landing navigation purposes...
Continue Reading Mars 2020 mission goes to Death...

First American Financial Corporation left as many as 885 million real estate documents dating as far back as 2003 exposed, according to Krebs on Security. The company, one of the largest real estate title insurance firms in the US, has already fixed...

As #vanlife has grown from cult phenomenon to almost-mainstream lifestyle alternative for the young and young-at-heart, it feels like van dwellers are constantly on the lookout for more distant roads, tracks and spaces to explore. And with that, the market for ruggedized adventure vans and custom overland campers is absolutely booming. The lifted, armored 4x4 camper vans that just a few years ago seemed the exclusive tools of hardy "most interesting man in the world"-type explorers can now be...

Just days after we looked at a 298-lb (135-kg) prototype camping trailer that is literally featherlight, we found a trailer that weighs even less – and this one's built to go off-road. The SportsRig TrailStomper is a wagon-like towable that buyers can build into the nimblest of off-grid camping trailers. Top it with a roof-top tent, slide some kitchen gear inside, tune the custom suspension system for the added weight, and you have a trailer that will pull less than US$10,000 out of your...

We hear a lot about aerial and underwater drones, but ones that travel on the water's surface … not so much. They can be quite useful, though, as we discovered when we recently checked out the Heron USV (unmanned surface vessel) at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation...
Continue Reading Heron USV is to boats what quadcopters are to aircraft
Category: Drones
Tags:
ICRA 2019
Watercraft

Apple has snapped up a company called Tueo Health, which was working on an app to help parents monitor asthma symptoms of their sleeping kids, according to CNBC. The startup's CEO and chief operating officer switched their employer to Apple on Linked...

Last time we wrote about the HyQ robot, it had just mastered walking and begun venturing into rough terrain. Now, its successor has do so with a three-ton passenger airplane in tow. Granted seven years of research and development have played out since, it is an impressive show of strength for hydraulically actuated robot not much bigger than a dog. ..
Continue Reading HyQReal four-legged robot tows a three-ton passenger plane
Category: Robotics
Tags:
ICRA 2019
Italian Institute of...

A major selling point for Xbox One is its broad backward compatibility with an array of Xbox and Xbox 360 games, giving it an enormous library of more than 3,500 titles. When Project xCloud debuts, it'll be capable of streaming any of those games out...

Facebook won't remove a viral video that purports to show Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nacy Pelosi slurring her words. Instead, according to a Gizmodo report, the social network will display an article from a third-party fact...

Knives can come with a user-friendly grip and they can certainly come in small packages, but offering the two in the one device is going to take some clever design. This is the task taken on by Horizon Knives, whose Lyra morphing knife is small enough to be keychain-compatible, but uses a nifty folding mechanism to give its users a good handle on the job...
Continue Reading Tiny Lyra knife uses clever folding linkage to stretch out for a four-finger grip
Category: Outdoors
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...

Remember those "bottle"-type dynamos that rubbed against the side of your bike tire in order to power the lights? Well, they've gotten a high-tech makeover, in the form of the fork-mounted CadenceX generator – its creators say that it can replace the batteries currently needed for all bicycle electronics...
Continue Reading CadenceX reimagines the bottle dynamo for the 21st Century
Category: Bicycles
Tags:
Cycling
Dynamo
Generator
Power

You don't have to wait until June 5th to get your next fix of Black Mirror -- although it might not be what you were expecting. Netflix has announced a trio of Little Black Mirror short promo films with thematic links to the technology-gone-wrong ser...

Buried in Edge Magazine's exclusive feature on Playdate, is an interesting revelation. Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg once expressed interest in buying Panic, the developers behind the new handheld, hand-cranked console. Perhaps even more intriguing, Pa...

The EV market is growing. More people are realizing that the majority of their drives don't stray far from the cities or towns they live in. While a robust charging infrastructure still isn't in place (unless you own a Tesla), topping up the batt...

Things just keep getting worse for Huawei. The company was barred from being a member of the SD Association (SDA), the trade group responsible for standardizing SD and microSD cards. The change in status means that Huawei will no longer be able to of...

The first of SpaceX's functional Starlink satellites have been launched into space, with the company successfully putting the first pieces in place for what it hopes will be a vast network blanketing the entire globe in high-speed broadband internet. ..
Continue Reading SpaceX launches first bunch of satellites for its Starlink mega-constellation
Category: Space
Tags:
Internet
SpaceX
Starlink

Smart home connected devices can control everything from lighting and temperature to security systems and music. But with products from so many different companies, they don't always work together. Control4 wants to change that. Yesterday, it debuted...

Cannabis vaporizers have come a long way. As weed becomes legal in more states, companies are free to devise new methods to administer the herb. Enter Omura and the Series 1. At first glance, it looks like a conventional — if not more stylish &...

Destiny 2's World First raid races are supposed to provide glory and rewards to anyone with a sufficiently committed fireteam, but that's not how it works in practice -- and Bungie wants to level the playing field. When the shared-world shooter's Se...

League of Legends isn't just one of the biggest games on the planet, it's perhaps the most popular eSport too. Starting with the upcoming Summer Split of the League Championship Series (LCS) and European Championship (LEC), Riot Games will offer a wa...

Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drones typically have four horizontal propellers for moving up and down, along with a vertical rear "pusher" prop for moving forward in more efficient fixed-wing flight. A new aircraft, however, uses the same four props for everything...
Continue Reading Vogi VTOL drone uses swingin' props to keep things simple and efficient
Category: Drones
Tags:
ICRA 2019
VTOL

As Facebook continues to poke around at the possibility of creating its own digital currency, it's created the possibility for the unlikeliest of reunions. According to the Financial Times, the social networking giant has held talks with the Winklevo...

Londoners have seen multiple bikeshare companies come and go -- including ofo, oBike and Urbo. When Lime introduced its e-bikes in December, it seemed like the tide could be changing. Now, Uber's Jump will give it a go. As part of a pilot program, Ub...

Opel's not one for rushing into releasing new models of its popular Corsa family runabout – the 5th generation was announced in 2014, and the gen before that was launched in 2006. For its just-revealed 6th gen, the German auto maker has decided to embrace the battery-electric future with the Corsa-e...
Continue Reading Opel goes all-electric for 6th gen Corsa
Category: Automotive
Tags:
Electric Vehicles
Opel

Blizzard is on a bit of a relative tear when it comes to major Overwatch updates. Soon after adding the Workshop customization tool, it's offering players the chance to watch back their matches from any perspective with a handy replay feature. It's a...

What did Apple mean when it said it changed materials to improve the keyboard on 2019 MacBook Pros? You should now have a better idea. iFixit has torn down the laptop to reveal at least a pair of changes to the butterfly mechanism that might affect...

Sorry, Sega fans, you'll need to wait a little longer to see the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Paramount pushed back the release date three months to give the filmmakers "a little more time to make Sonic just right."

By Daniel Varghese and John Higgins
This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to comput...

Dutch design firm Studio Rotor has been working with startup Retter Helfer Medical on a lightweight patient transport option for ambulance personnel. The Multi Scoop Pro features a patented mechanism that sees it change from flat stretcher to wheelchair in a matter of seconds...
Continue Reading Scoop stretcher can transform to a lightweight wheelchair in seconds
Category: Good Thinking
Tags:
New Atlas Audio
Stretcher
Transformable
Wheelchair

Twice now, Tanner Godfrey has jumped further in a UTV than anyone in history. Since he doesn't have full use of his legs, he's done it by literally poking the gas and brake pedals with a stick. And on Monday, armed with a new stick, he's lining up for the biggest jump of his life...
Continue Reading Interview: Semi-paralyzed wild man Tanner Godfrey prepares for a third UTV jumping world record
Category: Remarkable People
Tags:
Polaris
Stunts
utv
World Records

MAD Architects' Harbin Opera House remains one of its most impressive projects to date and the firm has just revealed another striking project for the same region that also riffs on the bitterly cold conditions in that part of the world. Conceived for the existing Harbin Taiping International Airport, the Harbin Airport T3 resembles a giant snowflake.
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Continue Reading MAD's snowflake-shaped airport terminal references China's chilly north
Category: Architecture
Tags:
Airports
...

Mimic Go might look like a bubbly, chubby-version of a tracking tag (which it is) but that's only one of the tricks it has up its red, plastic sleeve. Not only can you track stuff around the world thanks to GPS, LTE-M & eSIM connectivity, but the Mimic Go can help prevent things from going missing in the first place. It can even alert you if someone approaches a room you'd like to keep secure. And light up your ride...
Continue Reading Programmable Mimic Go tracks your stuff, can be a handy...

Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) is planning to bring something of the Italian countryside to inner-city Milan with its Vitae project. The eye-catching building will host research facilities, offices and a restaurant, and will be covered in greenery, including a vineyard.
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Continue Reading Mixed-use office building brings a little countryside to the city
Category: Architecture
Tags:
Building and Construction
Carlo Ratti Associati
Green Roofs
Milan
New Atlas Audio
Office

Science fiction has long traded in the idea of memory manipulation. From mass memory editing in Dark City to the more precise memory-wiping of the neuralyzer in Men In Black, there are scores of imaginative stories set in worlds where humans can directly alter a person's memory. Two remarkable new studies are suggesting this sci-fi concept may be entirely possible, describing early proof-of-concept experiments that show how we can enhance or weaken the emotional impact of traumatic...

In an effort to make vaccines more available to people in difficult to reach areas, a team of scientists at McMaster University has developed an inexpensive, sugary gel that can preserve heat-fragile antiviral vaccines for over eight weeks at temperatures up to 40° C (104° F). The hope is that it will not only provide immunization to more people, but also aid in combating the spread of dangerous diseases like Ebola...
Continue Reading Sugary gel allows vaccines to be transported where...

A retired Cold War US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber has been rescued from an Arizona boneyard where it has sat since 2008, and is being returned to active duty. Nicknamed "Wise Guy," it has been made flightworthy and flew from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, on May 14, 2019, where it will be completely restored...
Continue Reading Scrapped B-52 bomber to return to service after rescue from the...

Using the latest trend in artificial intelligence – adversarial learning – Samsung's AI Center in Moscow has demonstrated that it can take a single image of a person and turn it into a talking head. And if watching the Mona Lisa come to life doesn't send chills down your spine, you need to check your pulse...
Continue Reading Samsung AI brings the Mona Lisa (or any other picture) to life
Category: Computers
Tags:
Artificial Intelligence
Deepfakes
Deep Learning
Generative...

The revolution of smart devices marches on as researchers have made printable tags that mirror some functionality of standard smart gadgets. While that might sound like a major leap at first, it obviously […]
The post These Tags Convert Just About Anything Into a Smart Device appeared first on Geek.com.

I like tools that are designed ergonomically, for simple and easy use. I also like tools that can be easily weaponized. ThinkGeek’s Thor Hammer Tool Set falls squarely in the latter category, since […]
The post GEEK PICK OF THE DAY: Mjolnir Tool Set Puts a Hammer Inside a Hammer appeared first on Geek.com.

I’m a fan of useful tools. I’ve sung the praises of iFixit’s Pro Tech Toolkit, and I keep a variety of multitools and utility knives by my desks at work and at home. […]
The post SOG’s Rad, Ratcheting Baton Q4 Multitool (and Sync I Belt Buckle Tool) appeared first on Geek.com.

Every year we get a peak at the latest and most exciting developments in tech at the Consumer Electronics Show. In many ways, it is the grand showcase for what the best software […]
The post The Best Robots of CES 2018 appeared first on Geek.com.

Magnets are rad. Electromagnets, doubly so. We’ve known they can be used to levitate things at least since Raul Julia told us the nature of his powers in Street Fighter. If you have a […]
The post You Might Be Vaporwave, But You’ll Never Be Mac Tonight in a Floating Dessert Cup Vaporwave appeared first on Geek.com.

Samsung kicks off the annual device-reveal season with today’s unveiling of the Galaxy Note 8. Various leaks and teases have piqued consumer attention, which, frankly, is mainly focused on whether or not this […]
The post Livestream Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 Unveiling appeared first on Geek.com.

Lots of people like being outdoors. Not geeks, usually (hyuck hyuck), but a lot of people. And, unfortunately for, presumably, some of those folks, there aren’t too many solid portable vaporizers that could […]
The post Vapium Summit: The Vape for the Great Outdoors appeared first on Geek.com.

Most vaporizers cost a pretty penny. Even if you’re looking at cheaper options, you can still expect to spend at least $150 for something that does everything well. But the Vie is looking […]
The post Vie Review: The Best Budget Vaporizer Ever Made appeared first on Geek.com.

I’m going to say it. Fidget spinners are fun. At least, they’re fun for people like me who have what is best described with the Yiddish word shpilkes. As a giant nerd, however, […]
The post ThinkGeek’s Nerdy Fidget Spinners (and My Own Failed Game Boy Spinner) appeared first on Geek.com.

Society could collapse at any time. Meteors, zombies, global warming, dystopian cyberpunk corporate statehood, old-fashioned fascist dictatorship, it could be anything. You need to be ready. But loading up on guns and ammo […]
The post The Geek Prepper’s Guide: Data Smuggling Game Boy Cartridges appeared first on Geek.com.